 The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) signed an agreement to develop new drugs and repurposing of drugs for India and for global markets. The team research work is also joined by Cipla. |
| What is Drug Repurposing? Drug repurposing is identifying new uses of approved or investigational drugs. It is used to treat common and rare diseases. The main advantage of using repurposing drugs is its reduced development cost, shortened development timings and increased use of de-risked compounds. |
| Cipla association with the institutes The association of Cipla with the institutes has its origin in 1942. Cipla has also worked with the institutes in formulating the famous drugs called chandonium iodide in 1995. The drug is used against neuro muscular blockers. The drug was a huge hit in Indian and global markets. The gugulipid drug used for treating hypolipidemic was also developed under such venture. |
| CSIR The CSIR having a pan-India presence is known for its research and development in S&T areas. It includes oceanography, space physics, drugs, biotechnology, etc. CSIR is currently implementing a mission “New CSIR for New India” to be completed by 2022. The vision of the mission is to enable innovation-driven industry and catalyze inclusive economic development. The institute holds 84th rank among 4851 institutions in the world according to the Scimago institutions ranking world report. |
 The Cabinet Committee On Security (CCS) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) post that will function as a single point of contact for different branches of armed forces. CCS also approved the report of a high-level committee headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, which finalised responsibilities and framework for operation of CDS. In the present structure, the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) is Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Bipin Rawat. However, he does not function in capacity of a CDS. |
About Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
A CDS would be a four-star general- from either of the Indian Armed Forces- the Army, the Air Force or the Navy and will be payable to a salary equal to a service chief. The CDS post will have a fixed term, that is yet to be determined. [All five permanent members (P-5 nations) of United Nations Security Council (UNSC)- have equivalent posts].
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 The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Physical Laboratory (NPL) developed an ink to combat the problem of fake printing of passports and counterfeiting of currency notes. The ink has a new security feature o protecting itself against duplicity |
| Key facts of the discovery The ink was produced based on single excitable dual emissive luminescent pigment. It was developed based on the concept of fluorescence and phosphorescence phenomena. Currently, the currency notes display only one color with the emission of wavelength. However, in the ink developed by the scientists features changes in pigment color after the notes are printed. In ambient light the ink shows white color. When the ink is exposed to UV light, it turns red and when the UV source is switched OFF it turns green. |
| Why the new ink? According to the annual report of RBI (2018-19), the risk of duplication of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes are higher. The report says that recently launched 500 rupees notes are accounted to 121% of duplication and Rs 2000 notes are accounted to 21.9% duplication. |
| Fluorescence and Phosphorescence Both in phosphorescence and fluorescence the radiation is electromagnetic and is spontaneous. In case of fluorescence, the radiation stops after the source is switched off. On the other hand, in phosphorescence, the glow continues for few hours. |
 President Ram Nath Kovind released the mobile app of the Red Cross Society of India in Hyderabad. This app is developed by the Telangana Centre for Good Governance in less than three months, the mobile app is accessible in all languages. The developers informed that the access to blood bank and Red Cross membership will become easy with the launching of the mobile app. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban has achieved its target of creating Urban India Open Defecation Free. Urban areas of 35 states and Union Territories have become ODF. In all, 4,320 cities out of 4,372 have declared themselves ODF, of which 4,167 cities have been certified through third-party verification. This has been achieved by the construction of nearly 65.81 lakh individual household toilets against Mission target of 59 lakhs and 5.89 lakh seats of public toilets against Mission target of 5.08 lakh seats. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, has taken over as the President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) for 2019-20. She succeeds Sandip Somany, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, HSIL. President of The Walt Disney Company APAC & Chairman of Star & Disney India, Uday Shankar has been elevated as Senior Vice President of FICCI. Similarly, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Sanjiv Mehta was appointed as the Vice President of FICCI. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 Senior diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s Ambassador to the US, has been appointed as the new Foreign Secretary. He is a 1984-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service. He will take over the charge of the foreign secretary on January 29 from incumbent Vijay Gokhale. The appointment has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Bank of Baroda signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to facilitate the flow of credit in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector. As per the agreement, the credit will be provided to the MSME for greenfield projects, startups, women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs from backward areas under the Gujarat Single Window Clearance Act 2017 & Ordinance Number 1 of 2019 dated October 24, 2019. |
| Source: The Times of India |
 The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted a two-day regional level pollution response exercise named ‘Swachchh Samundra NW-2019’ at sea off Vadinar in Gulf of Kutch. The exercise was conducted to validate and reinforce the response mechanism for oil pollution incidents and enable the Indian Coast Guard to fine-tune the actions required in such eventualities. The exercise was conducted in two phases. The Gulf of Kutch (GoK) region handles 70 per cent of the oil imported by India and 11 Single Point Moorings (SPMs) out of total 27 SPM. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully flight-tested from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the Odisha coast. The missile was flight-tested with the full configuration in deployment mode intercepting the target mid-air, meeting the mission objectives. With this mission, the developmental trials of the weapon system are successfully completed and the weapon system is expected to be ready for induction by 2021. The QRSAM weapon system, which operates on the move, comprises of fully automated Command and Control System, Active Array Battery Surveillance Radar, Active Array Battery Multifunction Radar and Launcher. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
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